Coupling of locomotive axles



Aug. 20,.1929. E BRILLIE l 1,724,991

- coUPLING oF Loconorrvs: Axps Filed July 8, 1927 2 sheets-sheet 1 D HI! IK? EHKHFHz a Aug. 20, 1929. E. BRILLIE COUPLING OF LOCOIOTIVE AXLES Filed July 8, 1927 -VEg 2 Sheets-Sheet'.4 2

Patented Aug. 20, 192,9.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EUGENE BRILLI, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

COUPLING OF LOCOMOTIVE AXLES.

Application filed July 8, 1927, Serial No. 204,392, and in France July 13, 1926.

The present invention relates to locomotives in which the motors (internal combustion or other engines), four or six groups in number, drive two axles, either directly or through the medium of rocking levers.

Figure 1 shows a machine of this type in which the coupling rod linkage is connected under ordinary conditions.

Figure 2 is a diagram showing the nature 'ze of the driving forces and forces of inertiaJ with such arrangement.

Figure 3 shows a machine of the same type with the coupling rod linkage forming the subject matter of the present invention.

Figure 4 shows the detail of the counter- Y crank.

Figure 5 is a diagram comparative with that of Figure 2, for the coupling rod linkage according to Figure 3.

Fig. 1 shows an example of this type of machine, assumed to be equipped with four motive groups, two on the right and two on the left, the drive of the axles being effected by four rocking levers. Each group comprises either a double acting cylinder, or two single acting (two stroke cylinders A1 B1,

or two twin four stroke cylinders, for example. One of the groups A1 B1 drives by a rocking lever P1 and a connecting rod C1 a mounted axle E, and the other group A2 B2 drives by a rocking lever P2 and connecting rod C2, a mounted axle F.

As hitherto arranged, the two axles E and F are connected together and with the other coupled axles by coupling rods H H1 H2 etc. articulated on the driving crank pins The same arrangement is present on the other side of the machine, the cranks on the right hand side and on the left hand side being keyed 90O apart.

From this arrangement it results that on the one hand the driving efforts are exerted in unison in the cylinders A1 and A2, B1 and B2, on the other hand that the reciprocating parts on the same side of the machine are displaced in the same direction for the two groups, and that their disturbing effects are superposed.

This is shown in the graphs of Fig. 2 in which the development of one turn of a wheel is plotted along the absciss.

The curve a represents, in ordinates, the driving couple, or tractive effort, resulting from the front motive groups (4 cylinders) of the machine (the amplitude of this curve corresponds to the action of engines on the two-stroke Diesel cycle).

The rear lmotive groups having their phases in. unison with those of the front groups, their motive couple will be represented by the same curve a.

The resultan-t couple is a curve b the ordinates of which are double those of a. A c urve is presented showing a high coefficient of irregularity, that is to say Very unfavourable from the point of view of adhesion. The resultant irregularity of the tractive effort is indicated by f in Fig. 2.

The curve 0 represents, for one turn of a wheel, the effects of inertia of the reciprocating parts of the left hand side front group, corresponding to the cylinders A1 B1. The effects of inertia of the left rear group (cylinders A2 B2) being the same and in unison, the resultant of the forces of the two groups on the same side is a curve d, the ordinates of which are double the curve c, the irregularity being represented by e.

It results therefore that the arrangement according to Fig. l leads to a very irregular driving couple and to considerable disturbing effects due to the inertia of the reciprocating parts.

The subject of the invention consists in an arrangement for coupling the axles which enables by a suitable angular displacement of the front and rear motors, the driving effort to be rendered uniform and the effects of inertiav to be partially compensated.

The arrangement is shown in elevation in Fig. 3.

Fig. 4 shows an edge view of the driving wheel with its crank pins.

Fig. 5 gives the curves of the driving couples and of the inertia effects corresponding to this arrangement.

The driving crank pins K1 K2 of the driving wheels E and F are provided with counter cranks M1 M2, the pins of which L1 L2 are intercoupled by the coupling rod H, whereas the wheels D G are respectively coupled with the wheels E F by the coupling rods H1 and H2, articulated as in Fig. 1 on the bosses J (Fig. 4) concentric with the crank pins K1 K2.

The angular relationship m1, between t-he crank pins K1 and L1, m2 between K2 and L2, is so determined that the angle n formed by the .Crank pin ,K2 .0f .the rear group relatively to the crank pin K1 ol the front group is 18()OL less a semi-phase, the phase being defined by the angle 0 corresponding to two successive impulses of the front or rear engines, this being` with the example under consideration (four motive groups) of 18OOK-450=135- If the same length is given to the counter cranks M1 and M2, this will give m1 m2 @7l/2Q.

Under these conditions, on reference to Fig. 5, as far as the motive couple is concerned, will be obtained The curve w1 (the same as Fig. 2) relates to the two front groups (4 cylinders).

The curve 012 concerning the two rear groups, is the same as al displaced by a phase and a half, or what comes to the same thing by a semi-phase, that is to say 45.

It is seen that the yresultant curve b1 (sum of a1 and a2) presents a regularity approximately absolute (irregularity f1).

As regards the eiects of inertia K The curve c1 (the same asV o) relates to the left front group; the curve c2 (displaced by a phase and a half that is tosay 135 relatively to 6,) concerns the left rear group. The resultant will be a curve Z1 in which the maximum ordinate el represents about a third of the ordinate e of Fig. 2.

From this results an almost absolute regularity of the tractive effort and a considerable reduction (in the ratio of 3 to 1) .of the disturbing effects due to inertia.

It the machine had six motive groups, four lateral groups and two axial groups, with middle right and left cranks keyed respectively 120 apart,'the optimum angle n would be 1530-3021500.

The invention remains the same, if the angle n, is modified in order. for example, to improve the balancing to the detriment of the regularity of the motive couple; iii' the connecting rods c1 c2 are directly actuated by a piston instead of the intermediary of rocking levers; if the linkage on counter cranks connects the coupled axles instead of the driving axles, in the case where the extreme axles would be drivers, for example, or if a coupled axle and a driving axle are interconnected; and if the motive agent is other than the action of internal combustion, etc.

Claim:

In a driving mechanism for locomotives, two groups of driving cylinders, a front group and a rear group, two driving axles with driving crank pins, driving rods interposed between said groups of driving cylinders and the driving crank pins and operating the driving axles respectively, countercranks mounted at the end of the driving crank pins, a connecting rod uniting the pins of the counter-cranks, each pin of the counter-cranks forming with its corresponding driving crank pin an angle such as the resultant angular position of the two driving crank pins relatively to each other is equivaient to 180O less half of the angle rwhich separates two successive driving strokes of the two driving groups taken separately.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

EUGENE BRILLIE. 

